It will be the first game in the series to be fully HD and is due to be released before the end of the month for the Wii U eShop, as well as a multitude of other platforms. Back in November, before Wii U launched, developer Gaijin Games spoke to NES about how the new iteration came about.

When development first began, it appeared that the title would only be on its way to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as the PC. At the time Gaijin Games had no plans to make a Wii U version — however, upon seeing what it could do, they had a rethink.

Once we started seeing what the Wii U had to offer, being Nintendo developers, we started to get excited.

Since we’d self-published with Nintendo before with lilt line, we were confident that we could handle it with Runner2, and made the decision to go in that direction for the Wii U version.

The developer seems to be impressed with the Wii U system since working on it and says it's far easier to develop a game for Wii U than it ever was for Wii:

If there were anything to complain about, it would be that their online stuff still isn’t as robust as Sony or Microsoft’s, but it’s WAY better than the Wii, and in the end, easy enough to use once you get used to how they do things.

Also, at first, we had some load time issues that were really gnarly, but we’ve since figured out a workaround using our own internal engine. We like the Wii U at least as much as any other console we’ve developed for, and more than some.

Gaijin Games also recently wrote on its blog that the Wii U version would offer the best loading times:

The clear difference with the Wii U version is that you can play the entire game on either your GamePad or your TV. Also, because it is the newest platform with the most memory, it has the best overall load times of any of the consoles. Initial loading may be a bit slower, but it speeds up as you play since we can keep more content in memory, which means fewer loads overall.

Many indie developers have mentioned the ease of making games for Wii U compared to how it was on Wii. It appears Nintendo really took on board the developers' concerns and made some large improvements with Wii U. However, judging from what Gaijin Games has said, there are still some creases that need ironing out.